Book description
One of the major figures of English Romanticism, Samuel Taylor
Coleridge (1772-1834) created works of remarkable diversity and
imaginative genius. The period of his creative friendship with William
Wordsworth inspired some of Coleridge's best-known poems, from the
nightmarish vision of the 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' and the
opium-inspired 'Kubla Khan' to the sombre passion of 'Dejection: An Ode'
and the medieval ballad 'Christabel'. His meditative 'conversation'
poems, such as 'Frost at Midnight' and 'This Lime-Tree Bower Mr Prison',
reflect on remembrance and solitude, while late works, such as 'Youth
and Age' and 'Constancy to an Ideal Object', are haunting meditations on
mortality and lost love.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 - 1834) was one of the first figures of
the Romantic movement, and a poet, philosopher and critic. His close
friendship with Dorothy and William Wordsworth, whom he met in 1797,
led to the publication of the "Lyrical Ballads", which
marked a conscious break with poetic tradition and includes one of
Coleridge's most famous poems, "The Rime of the Ancient
Mariner".
William Keach is Professor of English at Brown University in Rhode
Island. He has published many books and articles on Renaissance and
Romantic literature.
